# Closing the "Tricking Affirmative Action" GQ

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-the-tricking-affirmative-action-gq/154869>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [February 13, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-the-tricking-affirmative-action-gq/154869 "2003-02-13T17:39:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-the-tricking-affirmative-action-gq/154869/1 "2003-02-13T17:39:16Z")

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Closed thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=162872).

I didn’t get the sense this was an actual attempt to assume the identity of a Latino – more of a general question about how college admissions officers verify that the race/ethnic origin claimed by applicants is correct.

In _Showboat_, the Edna Ferber musical, the married couple Julie and Steve are accused of miscegenation; Steve is white and Julie a white-passing mulatto. As the sheriff boards the boat to arrest them, Steve pricks Julie’s finger with a pin and sucks some of her blood; he then can truthfully tell the sheriff that there’s no crime here, since he, too, “…has Negro blood in him.”

The question of what makes a person a particular race or ethnic group for purposes of college admissions is a valid one, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s revisiting _Bakke_ this term, the administration’s have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too amicus brief on the issue, and the fact that admissions policies around the country may well be in for some changes as a result.

If the original queston was flawed, perhaps I could post this in GQ in an effort to reach the factual answer to the question: what, if any, effort is made to verify a college applicant’s race/ethnis group claims, and how is it accomplished?

- Rick

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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-the-tricking-affirmative-action-gq/154869/2 "2003-02-13T17:46:21Z")

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Ah.

It appears that the linked thread was closed as a duplicate, and its twin is alive and well.

I’ll just take my dunce cap and go sit over here, ok?

Sorry. Please disregard. And if someone could close THIS thread, I promise not to post and ask why. 🙂

- Rick

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-the-tricking-affirmative-action-gq/154869/3 "2003-02-13T17:47:17Z")

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It was closed because it was a duplicate; there’s an identical thread in ongoing discussion in GQ currently.

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-the-tricking-affirmative-action-gq/154869/4 "2003-02-13T17:52:21Z")

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:smack: I swear that wasn’t there when I started typing.

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**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closing-the-tricking-affirmative-action-gq/154869/5 "2003-02-13T18:02:05Z")

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That’s two people who must wear the **stupid helmet**  
for the day (See That 70s Show for an explaination of said Stupid helmet)

Lord knows there were many a day I sat there wearing it.